Cegos Barometer 3 Out Of 4 Employees Ready For A Total Career Change

Rome, January 24, 2019 (Labitalia) - Are we in the midst of a major reconversion?, asks Covid, which found that a sizable portion of workers are seeking greater meaning in their work lives and that 78 percent (3 out of 4 Italians) are willing to consider a complete change in careers. Although only 24 percent of directors and HR managers have already put measures in place, they are aware of the phenomenon and are beginning retraining programs.

Additionally, it is becoming more and more important to develop new skills in order to adapt to the transformations taking place, particularly the digital ones (61 percent), those related to new working methods (52 percent), and those involving information security and cybersecurity (39 percent). In fact, these three major issues—along with diversity and inclusion and ecological transition—are the ones that HR managers believe will have the biggest effects. As a result, upskilling or professionalization programs account for 37% of all training initiatives.

It is derived from the Cegos Observatory Barometer "Transformations, Skills, and Learning," an annual survey conducted by the Cegos Group, one of the major figures in education. It included 4,001 employees (of whom 501 were Italians), 377 HR professionals (of whom 60 were Italians), and participants from 7 different countries, including our peninsula: France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Singapore, and Brazil.

However, there, it is less of a concern than the jobs at risk of obsolescence for the following three years; 20% of workers there believe it (a decrease of 25% points from 2021 and only 12% in Italy), and it also applies to employees (23% fear losing their jobs, a decrease of 7 percentage points). In addition to upskilling, reskilling approaches for internal mobility are likewise establishing themselves; these are mentioned by 60% of hours and are likely to be seen as a potential solution to the growing problems with attracting and retaining talent.

Additionally, it should be noted that 9 out of 10 employees, a percentage that has remained stable over the past three years, are willing to self-train, and that 64% of respondents believe that the development of skills is a joint responsibility between the employer and employee (compared to 59 percent of HR and 16 percent in 2021). However, only 40% of employees think that the company provides training to meet their needs "just in time," and 42% think that the response is provided too late compared to when the training need first arose.

Emanuele Castellani, CEO of Cegos Italy, says that numerous transformations are currently taking place at work. The employability of individuals and the effectiveness of organizations are key components of these challenges.

It's interesting to see how companies' confidence in their capacity for adaptability and resilience has in some ways been bolstered by the experience gained during the health crisis. However, he emphasizes, "let your guard down; Faced with the changes occurring and the growing interest of employees in developing their skills, organizations must be able to offer a variety of dynamic and clear training, mobility, and retraining opportunities. They also need to make these opportunities more visible internally to encourage greater employee involvement.

Particular attention should be given to "serial learners," who have the potential to positively influence their coworkers and who, if not listened to, could represent a serious loss of competitiveness, especially in light of the recent spike in resignations, which are frequently associated with the search for jobs that are more in line with one's expectations and values. Just-in-time training presents eight challenges that must be overcome in order to customize and diversify the learning process.

1) According to 55 percent of HR managers (up 10 percentage points from 2021) it is challenging to match the training program's curriculum to the organization's needs for skills. 2) When developing training programs, HR directors consider four factors: the difficulties affecting the roles and competencies of their organization, the variety of the business strategy, personal needs, and needs of the lines of business.

3) According to 39% of HR directors (up 6% from 2021), managerial skills are most in need of improvement, followed by soft skills (31%, up 8 points from 2021), with employees placing the highest value on effective work organization, creativity, and innovation. HR professionals, on the other hand, place the highest value on agility and adaptability. 4) In the real world, HR referents still favor blended and online learning.

In the past two years, 60 percent of them (an increase of 10 percentage points compared to 2021) have activated online training courses, 49 percent have activated blended courses, and 41 percent have activated classroom courses. 5) The personalization of training programs and the diversification of training techniques are two issues that HR managers and employees consider to be priorities.

Training should also incorporate simulations and real-world applications for employees. 6) In line with the two issues raised above, three new training techniques—adaptive learning (45 percent), social learning (42 percent), and design thinking (41 percent)—seem to be piqueing the interest of HR decision-makers more and more.

7) Data learning, on the other hand, is a crucial tool that is still underutilized. 11 percent of HR managers claim they don't use them at all, while 37% claim they do in order to improve the learning process.

8) User satisfaction and learning outcomes are the two main KPIs that HR staff members keep an eye on (61 and 55 percent, respectively); the impact on performance comes in fourth place with 45 percent.